Legitimacy and the international regulation of geoengineering with solar radiation management : Prospects for normative institutional design theory

The paper examines the prospects of a normative approach to institutional design for systematically introducing the concept of legitimacy to the debate on how to internationally regulate research on and possible applications of geoengineering with solar radiation management (SRM). Given the high desirability of international regulation of SRM resulting from its strong transboundary and regionally differentiated effects, legitimacy needs to be considered one of the core concerns of any potential international SRM governance scheme. The aim of this paper is to clarify the role of the concept of legitimacy in international SRM governance, and to set forth a specific approach aimed at identifying legitimacy-enhancing institutional design features for internationally regulating research on and possible applications of SRM. Since international regulation never proceeds in a void but is deeply embedded in interest and power based international politics, a central motif of this paper is to identify the constraining and enabling conditions for legitimate international SRM governance to emerge.